


Babysitter Blues

by Kerriberri



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Ducktales Secret Santa 2020, Parent Donald Duck, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29053326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerriberri/pseuds/Kerriberri
Summary: Huey, Dewey, and Louie have decided that they no longer need a babysitter, especially someone like "Old Mrs. Birdwell". Well, as the old adage goes, "Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it." Ducktales Secret Santa gift for kitkatzrgr8 on Tumblr (Originally posted on FF.net and Tumblr)
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mrs. Birdwell is the babysitter shown in "Woo-oo!". Also, the boys are 8 here and the reason why their personalities are a little different from the current canon because I wanted to combine their personalities from the current show along with other media they've been in such as the 1987 show, comics, etc.

The delicious scent of toasted bread wafted through Donald Duck’s room. Even in a deep sleep, he couldn’t help but smile. The pleasant aroma brought back memories of his dad cooking breakfast, or even better, his old roommate José Carioca making tasty pão na chapa.

But a sudden “CLANG” startled Donald and he fell out of his hammock bed.

As he sat up, he groaned and grumbled about his sore back. Even over his complaints, he heard three whispering voices coming from the living area. He frowned.

Something was up.

Donald stood to his feet and removed his sleep mask, but nearly fell over once he saw how bright it was outside. 

“Oh no.”

He scrambled over to his nightstand to check his phone, but when he pressed the button to check the time, the “dead battery” logo flashed dimly onscreen. His heart sank.

He overslept!

“Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!” He dashed out of his room. His poor boys! They must've been starving!

Once he got to the kitchen area, the three ducklings stopped what they were doing and looked at him. Huey was sitting at the table spreading peanut butter on toast, next to him was Louie who was eating cereal, and Dewey was sitting on the floor eating a toaster pastry and playing video games.

“Good morning, Unca’ Donald!” They greeted.

Before Donald could speak, Huey jumped up and ran over to him. “Look, Unca’ Donald! I made breakfast for you!” He proudly held up a plate with two pieces of peanut butter toast with banana. “Don’t worry, I used a plastic knife.”

“Thanks, Huey.” Donald said. “Boys, I-”

“C’mon sit down and eat!” Dewey hopped up and grabbed his arm to lead him to the table. Huey set down the plate and pulled out a chair and Dewey sat him down. “You’ve got a busy day ahead of you!”

Donald sat down. “I-”

“Don’t forget the milk.” Louie poured him a glass and slid it across the table, stopping just short of his plate.”

Any initial guilt Donald was feeling about oversleeping was quickly being replaced by suspicion again as he looked at their smiling faces then down to his plate and back at them again. 

“Okay, what’s going on here?” He asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

“Nothing.” Dewey answered, a little too quickly for Donald’s liking.

Huey sighed. “Okay, Unca’ Donald, you caught us.” His brothers looked at him, but Huey simply shook his head causing them to back down.

“We don’t want a babysitter anymore!” They said.

“Especially not one as boring as Old Mrs. Birdwell.” Louie added.

“And we won’t be home alone. We’ll have each other!” Huey asserted.

“Yeah!” Dewey piped up. “Between the three of us, we’re like 24-years-old!” The boys looked at their uncle with wide, toothy smiles; however, his expression remained unchanged.

“Sorry, boys, but no dice.”

“But Unca’ Don-”

“No being home alone until you get to high school, and not a moment before.”

“Yes, Unca’ Donald.”

* * *

Thankfully, the rest of breakfast proceeded without incident, and Donald returned to his room to get ready for the day. Before he began, he plugged up his phone to get some charge and sat in his hammock. He figured he could spare a few minutes to check and see what he might’ve missed since last night

Moments later, the phone’s loading screen appeared and shortly afterwards, his lock screen. Not soon afterwards, notifications began to appear: News from Duckburg, a reminder about his phone’s limited storage space, a special Cola Crash event, and finally, a voicemail from Mrs. Birdwell.

The last one puzzled Donald. Mrs. Birdwell seldom called unless it was a holiday or she was just letting him know that she would be running late (which was even more rare).

He shrugged it off. Maybe she was just checking in. This had been a busy week after all.

* * *

Meanwhile, the boys sat in the living room, glaring at each other, yet avoiding the other’s stare at the same time. Neither has said a word to the other since breakfast, but for Dewey, the silence was starting to become maddening.

“So what now?” He finally spoke up.

“I don’t know, do you have any other bright ideas,  _ Llewelyn _ ?” Huey cut his eyes at his green-clad brother who responded with an equally dirty look

“You’re the smart one, figure it out yourself,  _ Hubert _ .” Louie crossed his arms and turned away from him. Huey responded by also turning away from him in a huff.

Dewey scowled at his brothers. “Well somebody needs to come up with something!” He shouted. “I’m not about to have Old Mrs. Birdwell cramp my middle-school style!”

Louie scoffed. “Face it, Dewey, we don’t have a snowball’s chance of changing Unca’ Donald’s mind right now.” He pouted and slumped down further on the couch.

“‘Right now’.” Huey echoed. “Hmm…” He got up and walked away. Dewey and Louie exchanged curious glances and followed him.

“Wha’cha got?” Louie asked.

“Well, it’s going to take a lot more than just  **one day** of showing Unca’ Donald that we’re responsible.” Huey pondered. “If we’re gonna get him to change his mind, we’re going to need to keep this up for much longer.”

“No problem!” Dewey said as Louie let out a disgusted grunt. “How much longer are you thinking? A couple of weeks? Maybe a month?”

“A year, at least.”

This time Louie  **and** Dewey let out disgusted grunts. Before Huey could speak again, Donald appeared in the hallway.

“Okay, then. Let me know what the doc-” He froze when he saw his nephews.”Er, keep me posted. Bye.” He ended the call and smiled at them.

“Are you ready to go, boys?” He added a nervous laugh. In response, they gave him looks that ranged between suspicious to concerned

“Unca’ Donald, what’s going on?” Huey asked.

Donald’s grin dropped slightly. Instinctively, he wanted to tell them that nothing was wrong so that they wouldn’t be worried, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Honesty was the best policy after all, especially given the situation.

“Boys,” he started, “Mrs. Birdwell has just been taken to the hospital.”


	2. Chapter 2

A heavy, almost suffocating, cloud of gloom and guilt had fallen over the unusually quiet Duck household.

The triplets had retreated to their room and Donald was left alone in the living area. To get his mind off of things, he decided to straighten up the room a bit; however, his efforts quickly proved to be fruitless.

He couldn’t help but feel guilty for ruining his nephews’ day. Couldn’t he have just waited three seconds to finish his call before stepping out into the hallway? In fact, he could’ve waited to call and check on Mrs. Birdwell. If she had just gone to the hospital at that time, it would probably be a couple of hours before she knew what was going on.

Donald sat on the couch and let out a ragged sigh as he placed his head in his hands. Although he was hoping for the best now, it was a sobering reminder that Mrs. Birdwell was up in age and won’t always be around.

He shook his head, took a deep breath, and exhaled.

He wasn’t about to let his mind fall in a whirlwind of worries, especially when there were more important things to think about.

Like cheering up his boys.

And he knew just the thing to do it.

* * *

“Hiya, boys!”

The triplets muttered some form of greeting back to their uncle as he entered their room. Donald’s smile dropped at seeing his normally rambunctious kids look so down. Huey was laying on the floor halfheartedly flipping through his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, Dewey was sitting upside down in a chair, and that lump on the bed meant that Louie was hiding under the covers.

Donald made his way through the room and sat on the bed. “So,” he began, “are you all just gonna sit around here all day?”

“Mm-hmm.” Huey said as he turned a page.

“Yup.” Dewey responded.

“Pretty much.” Louie answered from underneath the bed covers.

“Oh, I see.” Donald looked down at his folded hands. “Well, I suppose that-”

Suddenly his phone rang. Huey and Dewey looked up at their uncle with concerned anticipation as he hurried to answer the phone.

“Hello?” Donald paused for the response. “Okay. … I see.” By this time, Louie peeked his head from under the blanket.

“Well, are you up for talking to the boys?” Donald smirked at them as he saw their faces light up. “They were- … But I- … I didn’t m- … Yes, ma’am. … Okay. … Okay, hold on a second.” No sooner than Donald could remove the phone from his ear, to put it on speaker, the boys already crowded around him.

“Hi, Mrs. Birdwell!” They greeted.

“Hello, boys.” Although she sounded tired, they were just glad to hear from her.

“How are you feeling?” Dewey asked.

“Much better.” She replied. “But I probably won’t be back for another week.”

“That’s okay, Mrs. Birdwell” Huey responded. “We’ll miss you, but we want you to get better.”

“Oh, you boys are so sweet.”

“Okay, boys, I think we should let Mrs. Birdwell rest.” Donald said. “We’ll talk with you later.”

“Bye!”

“Goodbye.”

Once he hung up, Donald smiled at his nephews. “Well, you boys seem to be in better spirits.” He mused. 

“Yeah.” Louie said, looking away.

“We’re sorry about earlier, Unca’ Donald.” Huey said.

“Yeah, we didn’t mean all of that stuff we said.” Dewey added. “Well, we didn’t mean to be mean about Mrs. Birdwell, but-”

“I understand, boys.” Donald ruffled Dewey’s hair. “You’re growing up. It’s only natural to want to be more independent.”

“Yeah.” They agreed.

“And maybe I need to step back and give you room to grow.”

“Yeah!”

“And maybe we don’t need to go to Funso’s this afternoon.”

“Yeah-wait!” The boys protested and pleaded with their uncle to reconsider that last decision.

“Okay, never mind that last one.” Donald laughed. “Are you ready to go?”

“YEAH!!!”

Before he could get up to move, his nephews tackled him with hugs. “Thank you, Unca’ Donald!’ They said. Seconds later, they ran out of the room chanting the familiar slogan, “FUNSO’S FUNZONE! WHERE FUN IS IN THE ZONE!!!”

Donald laughed. Even though deep down he was still worried about the future, between Mrs. Birdwell and even his boys growing up, he decided to put that aside for now and just enjoy the moment.

And later on some decent pizza at a fair price.


End file.
